


Secrets

by Novaviis



Series: Watercolour [2]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Coming Out, Crushes, Dorks in Love, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Halloween, Heartache, Lesbian Character, Light Angst, Secret Crush, Secrets, Short & Sweet, Unrequited Love, minor artemis crock/m'gann m'orzz, post- episode: s1e18 Secrets, pumpkin spiced latte for the soul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 06:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13992027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novaviis/pseuds/Novaviis
Summary: After defeating Harm on Halloween Night, Artemis and Zatanna do a little soul searching in Manhattan. Artemis learns that heartache can be fixed with a Pumpkin Spiced Latte and good company.





	Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> They're lesbians, Harold. 
> 
> Really though, I've wanted to write this for _ages_. Artemis' reaction in the episode always seemed a little out of place to me, so my Goblin Brain decided to fill in the details. While the relationship between Dick and Wally is the main focus of the series, I don't want Artemis and Zatanna to just be accessories to their story. So I'm going to be giving them a little more love, show their origin story and all that. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The buzz of the neon sign across the street was muted only by the police sirens coming toward them. Artemis narrowed her eyes beneath her mask as she watched a pair of moths try to fly into the pink glow of the sign. _'Secrets don't stay buried, obviously. It's better to bring them into the light.'_ Yeah. Right. One of the moths flew into an open circuit. The buzz went silent for one deadly beat, as it fell to the ground in a blackened heap. Artemis pushed away from the fence, eyes sweeping over the garden.

“Harm will be out until long after the cops arrive. They can deal with him,” she grunted. “We should get out of here.”

Zatanna looked uncertain, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, but nodded. Artemis guided them over to the opposite fence. Going through the house was too risky. They didn't want to chance setting off another explosion because of a blown fuse or gasoline, and getting cornered by the cops at the front door would just be a nuisance at this point. So, a more unconventional exit would have to do. Artemis hauled herself up onto the fence, walking across with catlike balance until she made it to the brick wall of the house. Taking a moment to crouch and prepare, Artemis lept up toward the fire escape above her. She grabbed onto the rusted metal railing, and with gritted teeth, managed to pull herself up onto the wire grating. With one swift kick to the ladder, it fell with a loud clang, just a few feet from where Zatanna stood.

“Thanks,” Zatanna smiled as she grabbed onto the railing and climbed up. From there, the two girls climbed the fire escape up to the roof of the tenant houses. They reached the top just as the red and blue glow of the squad cars surrounded the house. Zatanna peered over the edge. “We're gonna have to report on this later, aren't we?” she asked. Technically she wasn't part of the team yet (though that wasn't without her own complaints to her father), but she was pretty sure the League would want to know about this.

“Yeah. Later,” Artemis nodded. “I'm not in any rush to get back to the Cave,” she said as she turned from the edge of the room and crossed her arms. By the time they got back, Wally, M'gann, and Conner would probably be getting back from their Halloween party. Ergo, the Cave was just about the last place on Earth that she wanted to be.

“Alright,” Zatanna shrugged. “Don't suppose you still need to beat people up?

Artemis looked back at the girl from over her shoulder, softened by her light smile. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her arms back to her side. “I think even I've had enough action for one night.”

“Good,” Zatanna smiled as she stepped up to Artemis' side, “because I'm taking over our night from here on out. Sserd su ni ruo nailivic sehtolc.” As the young sorceress raised her arms, she and Artemis were both surrounded by a whirlpool of magic. The moment it dissipated, they were left clad in civilian clothing. Zatanna wore jeans with a grey peacoat and a violet scarf, while Artemis had been given black pants, a green sweater, and a jean jacket. Zatanna took one last glance down at the police surrounding the house before jerking her thumb across the sea of rooftops. “First order of business is getting down from here.”

After scaling the rooftops until they were a few blocks down, the girls made their way down another fire escape. Stepping out of a miserable little alleyway, they stood on the sidewalk of a quaint street in Greenwich Village. Manhattan thrummed with distant music and voices. The whole city seemed to be soaked in everything embodying Halloween. Artemis shoved her hands into her jacket. “What, are we gonna go trick-or-treating?” she scoffed.

“No,” Zatanna replied in a clipped tone as she took Artemis' hand and lead her out down the street. “We're gonna get Pumpkin Spice Lattes and rant about our problems, like normal teenage girls. You should probably ditch the attitude, though. Might spoil the milk.”

Artemis, though at first a little shocked at being told to essentially stop being a bitch, let herself be tugged along. “Right... okay,” she gave in. “I'm sorry, Zatanna. I shouldn't be taking out my stupid frustration on you.”

“Your frustrated, it's not stupid,” Zatanna shrugged as she let up a bit on the pulling. Now that Artemis seemed willing to walk with her, she walked in step next to the archer. “I don't expect you to be a ray of sunshine, it's fine. But staying mad forever is only going to make you feel worse.”

Artemis laughed dryly under her breath. “You sound like a Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul book,” she shook her head.

“You should see my Dad's library,” Zatanna rolled her eyes. “Half of them are incredibly rare and dangerous magical tomes. The other half are all parenting books. He's so paranoid. He seems to be convinced that I'm going to explode into a mass of teenage hormones and rebellion at any second.”

'Well,” Artemis began, “we did just leave the Cave to traipse around Manhattan taking down petty criminals and one really fucked up sororicidal maniac. Maybe he's got a point about the rebellion thing.”

“Guess we've gotta burn the library.”

Artemis, even despite the foul mood that had been plaguing her all night, actually laughed. Zatanna clearly took it as a victory, giving her hand a squeeze. It was only then that Artemis even noticed that they were still holding hands. Trying not to look too obvious or hasty, she let go and pretended to huff hot air into her palms. She rubbed them together and stuffed them into the pocket of her jacket.

They wandered the streets, through the endless maze of Manhattan, until they found a little 24-hour cafe. It was a cosy little place, lined with peeling wallpaper that hadn't been changed since the 80's, and a collection of mix-matched furniture. They each ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte, Artemis only going so far as to make a “basic” joke to Zatanna, who only rolled her eyes and pointedly took a sip of her steaming latte.

Artemis needed air, though. Didn't want to stay cooped up in the little cafe all night, so they made they way back out onto the streets again. Occasionally, they would pass by a group of costumed children accompanied by a few exhausted parents, or drunk college students stumbling from pre-drinks to parties. As predicted, a vast majority of the people on the streets were dressed in cheap costumes depicting members of the Justice League. Artemis and Zatanna quietly judged their outfits every time a faux superhero passed by, laughing among themselves. Kids always got a 10/10. Annoying teenagers and drunk partygoers averaged at 4/10. No bias at all, though.

Eventually, they found themselves gravitating toward Washington Square Park. The green space in the middle of the city, guarded by the looming grandeur of the Washington Arch, was surprisingly abandoned at this hour. A few people passed through on the footpaths here and there, but no one seemed too interested in staying.

Artemis took a seat at the edge of the large fountain, drawing her knees up to her chest as she looked down at her reflection in the inky black water. It was distorted by the streams of water jetting out from the centre of the fountain, rippling until she couldn't recognize herself. She curled around her latte and took a sip. The heat trickled down her throat and settled comfortably in the pit of her stomach. She had to admit, basic as it was, it wasn't that bad. Should've given it a chance sooner.

Zatanna took a seat next to her, facing the outside of the fountain with her legs dangling off the side. and the two slipped into a long silence. It wasn't tense, or awkward by any means, just a natural break from the noise of the city. The golden lights lining the arch threw out a warm glow in the otherwise cold night.

“Hey, Artemis?” Zatanna finally spoke, voice almost too timid to break the quiet. “I'm sorry.”

Artemis turned to look at her, brows drawn together and lips parted. “You-.... for what?”

Zatanna shrugged. “I shouldn't have tried to hard to force you to open up to me tonight,” she said. “I mean, I'm not completely sorry, because I really do want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, and it's not good to keep things bottled up, but... y'know. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn't,” Artemis answered quickly. “At all. You're fine, it's all- yeah, it's fine. I get it.”

Zatanna nodded, relief making her shoulders relax. “It's just that ever since I entered that train-for-failure simulation with J'onn to help the team out of it...” she trailed off, knowing that she didn't need to go into detail there. It'd only been two weeks, and everyone was still more than a little shaken over it. She tilted her head with a slight smile. “I wanna be there for you. All of you, I mean,” she corrected herself.

Artemis didn't say anything at first, unwilling to let her memories go back to that fiasco. It'd only ruin her already fragile mood. Eyes flickering back down to her rippling reflection in the fountain, Artemis tried to slow her erratic heart and the nervous heat quaking through her limbs. She took a sip of her latte. “Zee... can I tell you something?” she began slowly (which was a stupid choice of words because Zatanna had literally just said two minutes ago that she could tell her anything, but it was too late to go back now, and Artemis had never done this before).

Zatanna's smile brightened. “Of course.”

Artemis let out a slow, trembling breath. “The reason I was so upset back at the Cave... about realizing that Conner and M'gann are a-,” she cringed, “a thing... it's because ever since I joined the team, I've had a thing for M'gann.”

Zatanna nodded slowly. “A thing like... a crush?”

Artemis pursed her lips. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I guess I just got jealous, and mad that I missed my shot with her. I never really believed that I had much of a shot to begin with, I mean she never really showed interest in girls, but...” Artemis set her latte down beside her, bracing her hands on the concrete ledge surrounding the fountain and leaning back. She let her head drop back between her shoulders, staring up at the cloud-covered, starless sky. “I've known that she had a crush on Conner for a while, and it was pretty obvious that he liked her too, but I think I was just – in denial. Hopeful or something.”

“Artemis, it's totally understandable to be disappointed,” Zatanna frowned sympathetically. “It sucks, but it's not your fault for not seeing it sooner. It was something you didn't want to see. And... for the record,” she offered a smile. “I'm sure there's a girl out there for you.”

Artemis sat up straight again, ducking her head against her chest as she brought her latte back up to her mouth. “Y'know, you're the first person I've ever told..."

“Well, I'm honoured,” Zatanna laughed. “I don't think I could be nearly as brave as you.”

Artemis paused, looking at Zatanna for a long moment under the golden glow of the Arch. “I don't know about that,” she offered her own smile, as she reached down to lay her hand on top of hers. “I think you could be.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you caught that little hint, yes, I am going to be writing my own little version of the Failsafe episode to fit in with the Watercolour series. Not sure when I'll get down to it, but hopefully soon!
> 
> Comment to let me know what you think! As always you can find me through the links below. 
> 
> [「TWITTER」](https://twitter.com/novaviis) [「TUMBLR」](https://novaviis.tumblr.com)


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